The Breakfast Club and beyond
by elizaward
Summary: A fanfic about Claire/Bender. Includes all the characters from TBC. Claire and Bender start a relationship, it has it's ups and down like any other relationship with people threatening it for them. Claire's mum has left the family home and hasn't be heard from for days. John tries to deal with temper, but struggles big time. Andy and Allison try to get a relationship going too.
1. Chapter 1: Saturday

_Saturday_

Claire was silent on the journey back home with her dad. She was thinking about today's events: how she has smoked weed, how she had a close run-in with a very angry teacher and she fell for someone she never thought she would have. Her dad pulled up on their driveway in his silver BMW. "For god sake, why is your mother home." Claire looked around, glad to hear her dad wasn't ignoring her seeing as she gave a boy her earring and kissed him right in front of him. Her dad angrily slammed his car door. "Close the door and come inside." Claire's dad wasn't always angry, he was mostly always happy, he would do anything for Claire and do the exact opposite of what her mother says she should do, her mum in recent months had turned to alcohol and tried to escape family life by going on holiday at whatever chance she got. She was a nice person sometimes. Claire closed her door, repositioned her hair and walked into the large family home behind her dad.

John on the other hand lit a cigarette and inhaled it and then exhaled deeply. He smiled, thinking about Claire. He got the girl. Well, just for that moment anyway. Secretly he longed for someone to love him, and care about him seeing as his parents never showed any of that towards him. But deep down he knew nothing would ever happen. He walked across the school and stopped at the road. He was debating whether to go home and face his abusive father and horrible mother. Or go to the store, buy a few things and then go home; at least it would kill some time. He turned left, and started to walk to the store. He would do anything to not live with his mother and father. Anything in the world. If he could have 3 wishes that would indefinitely happen, that would be one of them for sure.

Claire's mum was slouched on the sofa. Her dad sighed. "I can't believe it's come to this." Claire's mum awoke and looked at Claire and then her dad.

"What did you say?" Claire's mum looked at her dad.

"I said, I can't believe it's come to this." He had a serious expression on his face.

"Well. I'm glad you're perfect." Her words pronounced slowly. "You know who's done this to me? You." Claire stood in the door way as her dad approached her mum, and her mum sat up to confront her dad.

"We've been over this many times and it's the same argument over and over. You have issues which you won't confront, it's not my fault I-" Her dad was cut off by the screaming from her mother which followed.

"MOVED ON TO SOMEONE ELSE. Someone who was more perfect then I am, who doesn't have problems. You keep sleeping around, I'll keep drinking." Her mum raged. Claire started to cry. She was sick of it, sick of the constant arguing that happened in this household. The constant disagreeing, even when she was being punished for skipping school and going shopping, her mother didn't seem to care simply because Claire's dad had punished her. They disciplined very differently, opposite completely.

"I hate you both sometimes; you're as bad as each other. Just get a divorce. That way, everyone in this household will be happy for the first time in 6 months." Claire raged, and stormed up the stairs. She had been in a very good mood, but it had gone completely. She longed to be back in the detention where people who liked her were listening to her and cared about her. She cried into her pillow on her bed.

John grabbed some cigarettes and a chocolate bar. He wanted a can of soda but didn't have enough. He wasn't in the mood to steal it either. He paid the cashier and walked out the store heading home. He had only just noticed how it was getting dark. While he walked through the Jackman Estate he came across someone he knew, a friend of his. "John." He looked at her. She was in his wallet, one of the girls that he 'considers'.

"Sarah, how's it hanging." Sarah grabbed something from her pocket. A condom. John looked at Sarah, she was his friend. With benefits. But somehow he couldn't bring himself to say 'yes' to her. Sarah looked at him desperately. "Uh, not today Sarah. Not in the mood, I've been in detention with that idiot Dick Vernon." Good cover, he thought.

"I see. You want me to walk you home? We can smoke a joint on the way." John was very ok with that. He needed one to calm him right before he entered hell, AKA, home.

"Of course that's fine." John and Sarah rummaged in their pockets getting the things they needed. They prepared them and began walking to the other side of the Jackman Estate where John lived. The Jackman Estate was a massive area of houses. By people, it was considered the rough area of Shermer because lots of druggy people lived there, John definitely included in that stereotype. "Thanks Sarah, see you soon." John smiled at Sarah and walked into his house.

"Who's that?" John's mum said. John peeked into the kitchen and smiled. "It's you." She said, almost disappointed that it wasn't the police coming to rescue her from her horrible, vile husband.

"Hi mum." John looked around the kitchen. Broken glass on the side, by the sink. "Has something happened?" John heard footsteps behind him.

"Oi, you little punk. Where have you been? It's gone 5pm. It's a Saturday. Family time starts at 5pm." John swallowed and it made a loud noise. He noticed his dad was wearing a glove and holding a piece of glass. Shit, he thought. Shit.


	2. Chapter 2: Sunday

_Sunday_

It was Sunday morning. Claire woke up to find her mum sitting on the end of her bed. She wasn't sure how to react. "Hi Claire." Claire smiled, not wanting to talk considering that she had just woken up. "I have some news. I think your father and I are going to get a divorce." Her mother had a slight smile on her face. Claire sat up. She exhaled.

"Finally." Her mother frowned. "It's not ideal I know. I don't want my parents splitting up. But you're not happy. I just want my family to be happy. I want to be happy again." Her mum for once almost looked sad and was happy with this chat her and Claire were having. Claire never would have been so truthful. It must have been that detention yesterday, teaching her to stand up for herself and say what she is feeling. Maybe she got it from John, someone who doesn't stop talking and insulting people. She almost looked up to him for that, but only almost.

"I think I'm leaving tomorrow. I'm going to stay in a hotel. It occurred to me and your dad just how much we were arguing around you, so thank you for shouting at us. We're meant to be the parents and we've been acting like idiots." Her mum looked down, disappointed with herself. "But, I thought me and you could go out shopping today? Seeing as you _had_ to go to that stupid detention yesterday. I'll treat you." Claire looked at her mum and they both smiled. For once, they were both happy. Even then, her mum was doing the opposite of what her dad was doing. She was rewarding bad behaviour, but still. Claire had learned her lesson in detention yesterday.

John was awoken by arguing somewhere in his bungalow. He got up. He felt very angry. Last night had not ended so well. He had been very happy after the detention, the day had gone well. But now, he was very angry. He grabbed some clothes and went into the bathroom to get ready. He looked down at his arm. It was red, it was sore, it was bleeding. It was disgusting. "Fuck sake," he said. He had a rummage in some cabinets in the bathroom. He needed to cover this wound on his arm. He managed to cover it with a plaster which was too small. "Right then, looks like I'm going to Shermer Hospital." John never went to the hospital after incidents with his dad. If they both turned up looking like they'd been in a bust up it would be very obvious that there was something wrong.

John snuck out the front door hoping not to be heard. "Where are you going boy?" John turned around. His father was awake and had seen him. Maybe today he wouldn't make it to the hospital, or school. It scared him. "Get some food on the way home." His dad threw him a twenty dollar note. John nodded and left the home. As soon as he was out, he exhaled deeply.

"I need a cigarette."


	3. Chapter 3: Monday

_Monday_

Monday morning had come. Claire was getting ready. John was lying in bed debating whether to go to school. "I must go" he said to himself. John gathered his stuff and left the home.

"Claire!" Claire's mum shouted from the bottom of the stairs. Claire gathered her things and ran down the stairs. "Come on, you'll be late." Claire and her mum bundled their things into her mum's car. The car journey was quiet. Yesterday, Claire and her mum had had quite a heart-to-heart. Especially when shopping. Now, Claire didn't want her mum to leave the family home. She would miss her. Claire's mum turned into the school entrance and stopped the car by the main doors. "Right. Well, I guess this is it." Her mum started to well up.

"It'll be fine. I'll see you at the weekend?" Claire's mum nodded. "I'm not going to forget about you, you know." That last thing reminded her of some people she'd met at the weekend. The Breakfast Club. John Bender, Allison Reynolds, Brian Johnson and Andrew Clark. Claire got out the car and waved goodbye to her mum. John, where is he. Is he thinking about me? Does he want to see me again? What do I do? Claire began to panic until someone tapped her on the shoulder.

"Claire, let's go!" It was her friend Annie. Claire smiled at Annie and they both went into school. She had nothing to worry about right now.

Meanwhile, John decided to take a detour. He went to the shop and grabbed a soda was some money he had found along the way. School started at 9am. It was nearly 11am before he even started to walk towards school.

Claire was walking down one of the many hallways of Shermer High to go to next lesson and stumbled across Dick Vernon. He looked at her, menacingly. "Let's not have any bad behaviour today Miss Standish." Claire and Annie walked to Home Economics: Child Development and met up with their other friends Mia and Brittany.

"Claire, I can't believe you had that detention on Saturday!" Mia said to Claire whilst fiddling with her hair.

"How was it? Who was in there? Was it torture?" Brittany followed with as she filed her nails.

"I think she needs a party to get over it, say this Saturday?" Annie added while she got out a pen. Claire laughed as she put her bag under her desk and grabbed her class book.

"It wasn't too bad. It was bearable. There were people in there I hadn't seen before. Andy Clark was in there though, so I did know someone." Claire's friends all sighed.

"At least someone hot was in there then!" Mia giggled. Claire forced a smile and went to her seat.

John walked into school. He went to his locker to find there wasn't a lock on it anymore. "Fucking hell." He said loudly. He heard a giggle. John looked to his left, and didn't see anyone. He looked to his right, didn't see anyone. He turned around to see a familiar face looking at him.

"Hi." It was Allison. She smiled at him, awkwardly. "Are we still talking?" John had seen Allison before, although he would never admit this out loud, he did want to be friends with Allison before that Saturday detention. He found her intriguing. She was different, and he liked different. Allison got something out of her bag. It was silver, it was oddly shaped but John recognised it.

"Is that mine?" He had a slight smile on his face. Allison walked over to him. She handed him the lock. "I guess it is then." He put the lock back on his locker and then there was silence between him and Allison.

"So then. How are you?"

"Look Allison," he was talked over.

"If you're going to say you don't want to be friends with me, I'm cool with that. You don't have to, I'm used to it."

"No, I wasn't going to say that actually. How'd you fancy hanging out at lunch?" Allison smiled. "Friends." Allison's smile widened. "We hang by the car park, see you at lunch." John was never normally this cheerful in the morning, if you could class that as cheerful.

Claire was thinking about John in Child Development. She wanted to know how he felt. Would anything ever happen between them? She wanted it to; there was something about him that made her feel like jelly. She liked his smile. She liked him as a person. She wasn't sure why, but she just did. Something just made her happy. Her teacher took the register and set some work to do.

Claire was in such a rush this morning that she forgot to go to the toilet. She was desperate.

"Mrs Moore, please may I go to the toilet?" Mrs Moore looked up from her desk.

"Yes you may Claire." Claire got up and went outside. She walked towards the ladies toilets, when a figure stepped out in front of her. She recognised them. A long grey coat, a red checked shirt, and that distinctive smell of cigarettes. John. Claire began to panic, wondering what to say. Would he say anything? Probably not, he wouldn't want to talk to her.

"You lost?" John looked at Claire as she approached him. He had that slight grin on his face like on Saturday when he said it. Claire had a bold smile on her face. "You look a bit surprised to hear me talking to you…" his words trailed off.

"Oh, um no." Silence. Claire and John were staring at each other. If Claire had gone with her senses, she would have jumped onto him there and then and planted a kiss on him. She noticed a sparkly earring in his ear. It was the earring she had given him. She smiled again. "You're wearing my earring?" Looked touched his ear.

"Yes… do you want it back cherry?" Claire smiled even more. John walked towards her. Claire walked towards him. The school bell went and within seconds the corridor was filling up with students.

It was lunch time at Shermer High School. Allison was walking from physics round to the car park to meet John. She bumped into a nerdy looking boy, of course it was Brian Johnson.

"Oh Hey Allison!" Brian said cheerfully. Allison looked up. She smiled.

"Hi Brian."

"Glad to see we're talking. Anyway, where are you heading this lunch time?"

"I'm going to see John, he said I can hang with him which is nice. I didn't think he was that sort of person."

"That's cool of him, tell him I said hi."

"Tell him yourself." John popped out of nowhere.

"Hi John." Brian said, slightly shocked. John grinned and then went serious. Allison looked just as shocked as Brian did.

"So big Bri, where are you heading? Physics club?" Allison giggled and then stopped abruptly when she saw Brian giving her 'the look'.

"Yes I am going to physics club. Then I am heading to shop to try and bump up my grade on that stupid elephant so I must be going. Nice to see you both." Brian walked away. John looked at Allison. They both smiled.

"Let's go." John and Allison walked down the corridor, some boy, presumably a jock because he was hanging out with Andy Clark, bumped into John who then bumped into Allison forcing her to hit her head on the lockers. John looked at the guy.

"Got a problem, druggie?" John looked up the boy who had just severely pissed him off. Andy said nothing.

"What was that? Do you fancy telling me that again, because if you do I can tell you exactly what's going to happen? You will be flat against that locker, praying for me to stop. I suggest you apologise." Allison looked around for Andy. They made eye contact. He smiled at her. She didn't react. Even though Allison had tried her best to copy the makeover that Claire had given her on Saturday, she still wore her dark clothing with converse trainers and had sneakily added a little bit of dark eye makeup to feel comfortable. But her hair was out of her face, and she did feel pretty.

"Well after that insult, I'm definitely not apologising. I suggest you keep one eye open, Bender." This boy was called Fenton. He was muscular and he was good at wrestling. He was number 2 behind Andy who was number one. John had no idea what he would be getting into.

"After meeting you, I've decided I am definitely in favour of abortion in cases of incest," John replied. The majority of Andy's group giggled at this comment, as did Allison. Fenton stared at John. John stared intensely at Fenton. They were the same height. John was very aggressive and Fenton was good at wrestling. Not a good combination.

"Look guys, sorry. It was an accident. Let's just go, we'll stay out of your way. Sorry, lady. What your name?" Andy piped in before things got too heated. He looked at Allison as he said that.

"Allison." She replied.

"Well hey Allison. Sorry on behalf of Fenton here. We'll try and make sure it doesn't happen again." John looked at Andy.

"You better sporto." Allison and John walked round to the car park as Andy and his jock crew walked to the cafeteria.

Claire and her friends met up with some other people in her group to discuss prom.

"Has anyone thought of a theme?" said Mia.

"What about colours?" added Annie.

"What about music?" asked Brittany.

"Transport? How are we getting there? "Questioned Layla, another friend of Claire's.

"There's needs to be enough room for our dates." Finished Annie.

"Look. Just calm down. We'll get this sorted tomorrow when we have a prom committee meeting." Assertively said Savannah who was head of the prom committee. Claire looked around, totally bemused. She was interest before Saturday about prom, and she certainly wasn't interested now. Claire was thinking about the kiss with John which nearly happened. How desperate she was to kiss him again.

"Hey Claire, is everything ok?" Claire looked up at Annie who was asking her.

"Yeah, everything is fine." Annie smiled and gave her a slight hug. "If you need anything you know where I am. But anyway, have you noticed how Andy Clark is looking over here?" All the girls at the table started to smile and flirt with their eyes at the jock table. Andy suddenly got up and walked over to Claire.

"Hey Claire, can I have a word outside please." Claire, shocked, went red. Exactly what she didn't want, it now looks like she fancies Andy and she doesn't. She wants to be with John, and only John. Claire got up and went out with Andy.

"What's up?"

"I was an idiot."

"Why, what's happened?"

"Well, Fenton was acting like an asshole and bumped into John, who bumped into Allison whilst we were walking down here. He wouldn't apologise and I didn't say anything until things got heated. I'm not sure if Allison is angry with me or not, could you find out?"

"Wait, Allison and John are hanging out? How? Why?" Claire sighed. It's not about John right now, it's about Allison. "I haven't even seen Allison today. I have no idea where she hangs out. Sorry, I don't think I can help."

"Ok, thanks anyway." There was an awkward silence. "Have you seen John today, how's it going with him?"

"I saw him when I was walking to the toilets just before break. Nothing really happened. Haven't seen him since."

"Ok, well I'll let you go. If anyone asks, tell them I was talking to you about prom dates and I was thinking of asking someone in your group to prom. I just don't want anything being said right now." Claire nodded and said goodbye to Andy. As she walked back to her table, her friends looked very excited like something interesting had happened between her and Andy.

"Nothing happened guys, he was just talking to me about prom dates. Chill." The bell went for last lesson.

Claire got home after being dropped off by Annie. She went upstairs and put her bags down. She lay on her bed and looked up to the ceiling. "I wish I could have spoken to him again." Claire exhaled deeply. She shut her eyes and fell into a light snooze. She woke up not long before 7pm and decided to do her homework to keep herself occupied.

John hung around school for an extra half an hour. He smoked a joint with his friend Sarah, Billy and Denzel. It calmed him down. He was in an odd mood. He wasn't sure why. He had nearly kissed Claire again, something he was desperate to do. But the event at lunch time involving Allison, Andy and the idiot Fenton seemed to get to him.

"I'm going to walk home guys, thanks for the green Denzel." He nodded his head toward Denzel before leaving the school grounds and heading back to his house in the Jackman Estate.


	4. Chapter 4: Tuesday

_Tuesday_

John had had a good evening with his parents. There was minimal shouting, he actually had a dinner and his arm was healing well after the altercation on Saturday evening with his dad. He got up and showered and left the house before anyone was awake. He wasn't wearing his trademark red checked shirt. Today he was wearing a black t-shirt with an electric logo on, but the same trousers and boots though. "Better to be out of there while I still can be" he thought to himself. He put his sunglasses on, hands in his pocket and proudly walked to school. He had never, ever, been this early. School started at 9am, and he was leaving the house at 8:15am. In all fairness it would take him 15 minutes to walk through the Jackman Estate and then head down the round to school, but still. He was eager to get to school for a particular reason.

Claire and her father had had a quiet evening. Her dad bought home a takeaway and she had gone to bed quite early even though she slept afterschool. She was awake at 7:15am and got showered, sorted out her hair and applied her flawless makeup. She picked out her outfit, making sure her favourite brown boots went with the skirt she picked. Layla, a friend of Claire's picked her up for school.

"Hey Claire"

"Hi Layla, thanks for taking me today- Bye Dad!" Claire's dad shouted goodbye back and they both got into Layla's car.

"Have you got the book for the prom committee meeting at lunch?"

"Yeah I have. What time is it?"

"It's the whole lunch time. I think we're meeting in Mrs Moore's Child Development classroom." Layla and Claire strapped themselves in and drove to school. Claire lived a bit further away from school than John did. It only took him 15 minutes to walk there, but for Claire, as she lived further out it took at least 20 minutes in the car and walking would take about 35 minutes if not more.

Brian was at school early this morning. He was trying desperately to finish his failed shop piece so it could be remarked and then his grade wouldn't be an F. As he was walking to the classroom he bumped into Allison.

"Oh hey Allison."

"Hey Brian." Once again, John popped out of nowhere.

"You're early today my lovely friends." John said quite sarcastically. Allison felt a bit annoyed. John looked at her and smiled for reassurance. John really, and truly did want to be friends with Allison. After the event at lunchtime yesterday he really thought she needed a friend and even though he was an idiot sometimes, and plays truant an awful lot, he was a good friend. He kept his word and meant what he said.

"Hi John," Brian said slightly sheepishly. John looked around the hallway to see if anyone was around.

"Um, do you know where Claire's locker is?" Allison and Brian looked at each other and then John.

"I don't," replied Allison. John looked at Brian, secretly hoping he would say yes.

"I do. It's literally just down there. It's pretty much next to mine. Number 2457 I think. I gotta go guys, nice to see you." Brian smiled at Allison and then left. John walked down Claire's locker. He could tell it was hers because all of the surrounding lockers had pink heart stickers on the locks, something which her and her friends did. He slipped a note through one of the gaps in the locker. He looked round. Allison was standing in the hallway just staring at him.

"What do you want?" She didn't reply. "Well are you coming or not?" John walked further down the corridor and Allison began to follow.

"Claire, can I have the book please. Seeing as I am leader of the prom committee." Pretty much as soon as Claire had arrived at school her friends were hassling her about the prom book and what she had added. Especially Savannah.

"Claire, nothing has been added," Savannah said after Claire handed it to her.

"I know. I didn't get time to do anything. You gave it to me on Friday. I had a detention on Saturday and Sunday I was having some time with my mum. Don't give me a hard time about it." Claire's tone was harsher than normal. Savannah looked at her, taken slightly aback. Annie looked at Claire, quite surprised. As did Layla, Mia and Brittany.

"What's wrong with you? Someone on their monthly?" Mia remarked. Claire looked at her.

"Sorry guys, I'm just a bit stressed about stuff. I'll see you later." Claire left her friends waiting outside the main entrance and walked to her locker. She opened it and found a folded piece of paper. She took it out, placed it in her pocket, put some books in the locker and then closed it. As she was walking to registration she opened the piece of paper. It read:

_Princess, meet me behind the math block at break. John._

She smiled, knowing that John wanted to talk to her. Finally she was going to get to see him.

The bell rang for break and Claire and John both headed towards the math block. John had played truant and skipped second period. Claire had just been in biology and had to walk from one end of the school to the other.

John got there first. He was nervous. He had no idea what he was going to say. Suddenly it seemed like a bad idea putting the note through her locker. Was she even going to turn up? Would she be really angry if he left while he could? Before he could process any of these thoughts Claire turned up. She smiled at John. "Hi." She looked into his eyes and he looked into hers.

"Hi Princess." They were both grinning. "Did you want something?" John looked at her and smiled.

"Yeah I did." He leaned in and kissed Claire. He put his hands in her hair and kissed her like he meant it. "That's what I needed." Claire looked slightly embarrassed.

"Was that all then?" they both laughed.

"Well, I knew you wouldn't do it."

"I didn't know if you wanted to see me again. I thought it might be difficult, you know with us being at school and all."

"Of course I wanted to see you."

"Look John, I don't know what's going on between us. I really would like to know." Claire's tone was a bit more serious. She was definitely different. John looked at her, slightly surprised. But he too was just as confused as she was.

"I don't know either. Nothing really has happened, and it doesn't have to. I want to get to know you."

"I don't want to be with you if you sneak around with other girls, ok? I just want you to know that. I don't want to be disrespected like that." John stood there, looking at Claire. She had told him what he couldn't do. Not too happy.

"I don't think you should be telling me what I can and can't do. I can do whatever the hell I like. I can skip school, I can smoke weed, I can get drunk and I can sleep with whomever I like. We're not in a serious relationship Claire, we're not going steady."

"If that's the way you think about it then this 'relationship' or whatever we have going on here is not going to last any longer than right now." John stepped back. He knew she was right. He was so desperate to see her and she had told him something which should be so obvious, he would never get a girlfriend if he kept sleeping around.

"You're right. Sorry." Johns said sheepishly. Claire smiled at him. "So, any chance we can meet up and have a proper talk?" Claire desperately wanted to say this lunch time but she couldn't let down her friends. She touched him on the arm and looked into his eyes. He flinched slightly.

"Is everything ok?" Claire asked John, sounding slightly concerned.

"Um, yeah fine." Claire was stroking John's arm when she found a bump. She rolled up his coat sleeve and saw the bandage on his arm from where his dad had glassed him on Saturday evening. "Don't say anything." Tears welled up in Claire's eyes. "I'm fine. Just leave it please." John reassured her, but sounding angry.

"You can come to my house this evening if you want. My dad is out on a business trip and won't be home till much later." John looked at her slightly unsure what to say. "You don't have to of course, but I'm busy at lunch."

"What about your mum, will she not be there? I'm sure she'd be delighted to meet someone so rebellious and imperfect for her daughter." Claire dropped her head. "What's wrong?"

"You're the first person to ask me that. My mum moved out yesterday." John looked at her and then kissed her on the head. Claire buried her head into his chest. His smell was comforting, she felt protected when with him.

"I'll come round. Meet me back here after school finishes. Can we walk?" Claire nodded and smiled and John. Then the bell went and they both went to lesson.

Claire was impatiently waiting by the math block for John where they had met at break. She didn't have a coat, because she assumed she was going to be getting a lift back with Layla. But now her plans had changed. She was getting cold. She kept looking at her watch, unsure if John was going to turn up. Andy appeared from nowhere.

"Claire, what are you doing here?" Claire looked up, shocked to see Andy. She debated whether to tell him why she was there or not.

"Oh, um I'm waiting for someone." She paused, "I'm waiting for John." Andy smiled. He walked and stood opposite Claire.

"Well, who would have thought it would actually last this long!" They both giggled.

"Well nothing has really happened. We're just having a chat today. Anything happened with Allison? Have you even seen anyone else from Saturday other than me?" He shook his head.

"Hi sporto." John appeared, and had Allison with him. Allison was looking at Andy. Andy was looking at Allison. "Well this is an awkward silence. Why don't you two get down to business, there's a bush round there where you can get jiggy. We won't tell anyone will we Claire." Claire looked at John and then hit him on the arm for his inapporiate comment. He smiled at her.

"Hi Allison." Allison looked at Andy who was talking to her. She greeted him back.

"Well, we're going now so goodbye!" John turned to look at Allison. "I'll see you tomorrow."

John and Claire walked down out and of school. Claire was still cold. She was being very silent and John felt uncomfortable with the silence that had ascended.

"Are you ok?" He asked her, sounding relatively concerned. She looked up at him.

"Just cold that's all." Claire put his arm round Claire. "It's about a 35 minute walk from school just so you know." John exhaled. He grabbed some things out of his coat pocket. He lit a cigarette and took a puff. He then gave Claire something from his pocket.

"Here, have this seeing as my coat would be too big for you." It was a red scarf. She smiled. She put the scarf round her neck. If the scarf didn't match her outfit, I'm not convinced Claire would have worn it but it did. Claire was worried that people might see her with John and then gossip would spread. That was likely to ruin their relationship considering their statuses at school were completely different. "You don't need to worry about me Claire." She looked at him confused. "I mean about my arm. Everything is fine. Well it's not, but I'll get over it." Claire and John walked in silence the rest of the way to her house. When they arrived John looked shocked. He had never seen a house like it. It was massive. "Wow, my home looks bloody awful compared to yours."

"This is nothing; this home holds nothing but bad memories now."

"Why?"

"Well as you know, my mum moved out. My parents have been unhappy for about 6 months. We've only lived here for a couple of years but even back then I could tell things were going wrong." John looked at her. "Let's go in. I'm really cold." Claire grabbed her door key and let John and herself in. John didn't know what to do. He took his shoes off and placed them by the door. Took his coat off and held it awkwardly wondering what to do. "Just hang in on the stairs case."

"This house is massive. Now I can see why I like calling you princess." Claire laughed.

"Do you want to come upstairs?" John looked excited all of a sudden. "Not for that reason John." He smiled and followed Claire up the stairs into her bedroom.

"Big bedroom you have Claire." John looked around her bedroom, laughing at the pink flowery wallpaper and the posters of teenage sensations.

"You don't think I'm spoilt do you?"

"You have much more than me. I'm not sure I like being somewhere like this. I don't belong in places like this."

"Why not? You and I have been bought up completely differently."

"May be that's why this could never work out." John looked at Claire and she looked down.

"Don't say that. You can't say that, not unless we've tried. And we're trying now." Claire sat on her bed and John joined her. She leant in to kiss him but he pulled back. "What's wrong?"

"I just want to apologise."

"Why?"

"On Saturday, for what I did. When I stuck my head in between your legs. Sorry about that. I was being very insensitive." Claire looked down, sad that it had happened but happy he had apologised for it.

"Thanks John. But I need to talk to about that kind of thing." Claire looked all embarrassed. "If we're doing this, I need to get my thoughts and concerns out there."

"I know what you're going to say. I won't sleep around with other people, honest. I like you too much to do that to you. I won't drag you into shit with my parents, they are horrible people and I could never ever forgive myself if you ended up being in a situation where I was being hurt by my parents and you were unsure of what to do. I will keep smoking because that is a part of me. And I will one hundred per cent respect you. I will not force you to do anything you don't want to do." Claire looked up at John and gazed into his eyes. She was extremely happy that he and her had a heart-to-heart. She now understood him slightly better.

"I really appreciate you saying that John, it means a lot. I mean, I'm 17 years old and my mum had the birds and bees talk with me a few years back. But I told you on Saturday that I want to find the one guy. I just hope that you can understand that."

"I do understand that. I hope that I am that one guy. I care about you an awful lot." John leaned in and finally kissed Claire. Claire put her hands in John's hair and rubbed his head. John wrapped his arms round Claire and placed them on her hips in a secure, protective manner. They stopped kissing for a few seconds to get a breather.

"So we're going steady?" Asked John. Claire kissed him again. That meant yes.


	5. Chapter 5: Friday

_Friday_

_[During the school week Claire and John have been keeping their relationship private. Claire doesn't want her friends finding out just yet as she is worried what they may think. John on the other hand wants people to know, because he is proud of Claire and loves calling her his girlfriend. John's relationship with his abusive father and mother has been steady – nothing else has happened yet. Claire's mum has not been in contact with her and she is beginning to get worried and has been expressing her concerns to John. Also, Brian and Claire finally saw each other again and Brian is trying to persuade Claire to invite them all round so they can all catch up.]_

Claire got to school and went straight to her locker. She hadn't spoken to most of her friends since Tuesday lunch time. She'd seen John on Wednesday and Thursday lunch time but at break times she'd been talking to Brian. The only friends she had seen was Andy during gym, Allison went she saw John and Annie when they met up after school on Wednesday to do some school work. Annie was her closest, nearest and dearest friend but not even she could pluck up the courage and tell her what she had going on. She hadn't told her about her mum moving out and hadn't told her about her new friends. Or John for that matter. When Claire got to her locker she found a note in there, presumably from John:

_I want to get dirty with you._

Claire thought nothing of it and went to first lesson when the bell rang.

John, on the other hand was not at school. Last night, he and his friends had got drunk and high. He and his friend Sarah got into a bit of a brawl when he turned down sex again. He wasn't having it. He wanted to be the same John as always but just with better morals. She wouldn't take no for an answer and then Denzel and Billy got involved and eventually they were all laughing the whole thing off. But he was not at home, or at school. He was at Denzel's house with no clean clothing. He didn't want to go home at 9:30am when he should be at school learning, his parents would not be too pleased to say the least, but he was sure he didn't want to go into in dirty clothes. Dilemma.

There was a knock on Denzel's door.

"Is John here?"

"Yeah, come on in." Denzel said to the person at the door. It was Allison. She had come to find John and the others. "John, looks who's here."

"John, come on let's go. You and I both know that you'd rather be at school where Claire is than sitting here high as a kite and letting her down." John looked up. He totally agreed. He didn't want to let her down. Being drunk and high was so fun but he knew he should limit himself now he had a girlfriend who cared a lot about him. John got up, lifted his armpit up and took a whiff.

"I need to change clothing." Allison looked at him. She began to take a plastic bag out of her school bag. Clothes. She'd bought him clothes. "For me? Thanks, I guess. I do know how to clean clothes." John went into Denzel's bathroom and changed into the clothes Allison had bought him. They were similar to what he usually wore, a plain black t-shirt and dark grey trousers. She added some underwear too.

John said to goodbye to his mates who seemed to be playing truant today and left to head to school with Allison.

"You're being too kind to me Allison. I'm not sure how I can re-pay you."

"When how about you stop smoking weed and getting drunk on school nights and instead go to school and get an education and turn your life round. Also, you could set me and Andy up on a date."

"You know, the last can probably be done. Claire's likely going to be having us round on Saturday evening. Her dad is at a 3 day conference so he's staying in a hotel near to where it's being held. House to herself. Bedroom just for you and Andy. I'm the best" He gave her a cheeky wink. She looked at him and smiled slightly.

As they approached school they recognised a figure upon entrance. Dick Vernon. The man John hated as much as his parents. That man drove him in sane; he literally made John's blood boil. John had always had a bad temper but with Dick Vernon and John in each other's presence, they were like a volcano waiting to erupt. Not good. There was no other way to get into school other than through the doors which he was guarding.

"I don't want you getting in trouble. I'm already in detention with him on Saturday. You go round the side and wait until me and him have gone," John told Allison.

"No." Allison walked straight towards Dick Vernon with John sheepishly following. John did not want to be responsible for hitting Vernon if he shouted at Allison. He hated him so much, and was in the right frame of mind that he would do that.

"Bender, what the hell do you think you're doing out of school at 9:30? Will this be another detention? I already got you 2 months boy." Dick Vernon looked at Allison. "What do you think you're doing here girl?" Allison remained silent. "Are you brain-dead? Can any of you two talk?" John was trying very hard to keep himself from saying something he would regret. "Do you want to die stupid Bender? Why are you not in school?" John kept a very straight face as he and Allison were silent. "You have a face that only a mother could love – and even she hates it. Your own mother. You are worthless." Vernon was now in John's face. "Got something to say Bender? Spit it out."

"We're late.. because.. of" Allison began. Vernon took a step back and looked at her.

"Go on? Here comes the crazy bull shit story."

"John hurt his arm and had to go to hospital. I took him as he couldn't get there." Allison pulled up John's sleeve and showed him the bandage on his arm from the hospital last Saturday. Allison looked at John. John looked at Vernon. Vernon looked at Allison. It must have worked. He didn't say anything.

"Hey Dick- I mean Mr Vernon, got something to say?" John rudely said.

"That's another detention boy."

"I'd rather pass a kidney stone than spend another Saturday with you."

"Feeling is mutual you piece of dirt. Get into school, stop wasting my time. This is your last warning lady; if I see you again you're with me on Saturday." Allison and John walked into school laughing.

"Thanks Allison." She smiled at him and they parted ways heading to their lessons.

Claire went and waited behind the math block as the bell rang for break. She was hoping John was here. She hadn't seen him, but received his 'note'. Within minutes of the bell ringing, John appeared, smiling.

"Hey Cherry." He kissed her on the lips. "I really pissed Dick off earlier. It's a long story but he was speechless." He put his arm round her. Claire looked up at John and smiled and kissed his neck. He was still wearing the earring she gave him, that meant a lot to her.

"I have two things to talk to you about. First thing, I can't be with you this lunch time because I'm going to see Andy and also I need to talk to Annie about us. I don't want to keep her out the loop anymore and I just really want to talk to someone about it." She paused, as John showed her he was listening, "and secondly what was up with your note? I thought you understood how I felt about that?" She looked at John. He had a completely puzzled face. He was confused.

"What?"

"I just told you, I can't be with you at lunch because-I" John stopped her.

"I got that. What about the last bit? Are you telling me you got a note? You thought it was from me?" Claire looked at him, slightly scared that something was happening and he would flip out.

"Uh, yeah I am. I got a note. I'll get it for you. Are you sure it's not from you?" Claire got the note out and John looked at intensely, examining the hand writing.

"This is not my hand writing and I wasn't at school this morning. I'm going to apologise now. I was drunk and high last night. Allison came and got me when she realised I wasn't here. That's why Dick had a go at me earlier. But what is this? Who the hell is sending you notes? Have you been creeping around?" John sounded very angry and stern at the end. Claire looked at him and started to get teary.

"No I haven't been creeping around. I love you. I am with you. I have done nothing with anyone. If I had why would I show you a note? What is going on?" Claire burst into tears. She was hormonal. She was missing her mum. She needed her friends' support.

"I'm sorry. Stop crying." John hugged Claire and stroked her hair to comfort her. "We'll figure this out. I'm going to go and find out what son of a bitch sent my girlfriend this." He kissed her on the head and left her standing outside just as the rain started to pour.

At lunch time Claire wanted to see John but she had told him she couldn't. She wanted to find out if he had found anything, but she was busy. First thing, she went to find Andy in the cafeteria.

"Andy, can we talk now?" Andy looked up and smiled at her.

"Yeah sure, where shall we go?" Andy looked around the cafeteria. "Can I still eat though?" They both laughed. "How about a walk?" He looked out the window. "Or not, the weather is awful. Let's go to one of the classrooms upstairs." Claire and Andy went to one of the technology rooms. "So what's up?" Andy asked as he and Claire got their lunch out and began to eat it.

"I was just wondering how things were going with Allison?"

"Really Claire?" He paused. "Well I have seen her a few times, we hugged but nothing much happened. I think she looks fab, I would love to ask her to prom but it's not that easy." He sighed. "What about you and John?"

"He wants people to know, me not so much. It's great though, I really like him. I've been through a lot this week so I'm not sure I have the energy to deal with everyone bitching about us." They both laughed. "There's something else though, that I need to talk to you about." Andy looked up, ready for what she was going to ask. "I think I'm having you guys round on Saturday as a little get together. Brian's idea, I think it's a good idea too. He wants us all to have a catch up. What do you say? I didn't want to ask you in front of everyone, they might get the wrong impression if you know what I mean." Claire smiled awkwardly.

"Sounds good, will Allison be going?"

"I assume so. Me, you and Brian so far. I'm pretty sure John's coming so I guess Allison will as well. Especially if you're there." They both smiled and ate some food. As Claire was finishing her sushi she looked around the class at all the paper on the floor. It reminded her of something. The note she received in her locker. Andy was popular, he had a lot of friends, he heard the gossip. Maybe he could help her out. "Hey Andy, I have a very serious question to ask."

"Hit me."

"I got a note in my locker saying "_I want to get dirty with you"_ – do you know who it's from? It wasn't John and I thought it was. He is freaking out big time. I'm a little worried about him going off the rails, you know what his temper is like..." Andy swallowed his lunch. He seemed quiet. Claire looked at Andy.

"Um, yeah I do know about that. I didn't think he'd do it though. Bad idea I said to him, but he didn't listen. Of course I couldn't say why it was a bad idea." Claire looked at Andy thoroughly confused. "Remember that guy Fenton I was telling you about on Monday I think? It was him; he likes you. I told him it was a bad idea but he didn't realise why. He obviously doesn't know who you're going out with... you know because you don't really want to tell anyone." Claire gulped. "Hmm, big problem we have."

"Ok thanks. I really have to go and find Annie, do you want to walk back to the cafeteria with me?" Andy and Claire gathered the rest of their food and collected them together and went to the cafeteria. They said goodbye and Andy sat back with the jocks on one table while Claire joined her friends on another.

"Hey Annie, I really need to talk to you?" Annie looked up, she looked happy that her best friend wanted to talk to her again.

"sure!" Annie said, sounding delighted.

"Hey Big Bri, I think the thing at Claire's is going on this Saturday. Will I get to see my buddy there? Tell Allison if you see her."

"Of course, it was my idea. See you later John." John stuck his thumb up and walked away. He was a man on a mission.

"What son of a bitch is trying to mess up the best thing that has happened to me?" He thought to himself.

"I have some pretty major stuff to talk to you about. I feel terrible for not telling you sooner." Claire said as she and Annie put their stuff down in the same classroom that she and Andy had been in minutes earlier.

"Ok, I'm ready. Am I going to cry? I don't have any tissues."

"I don't think so." She paused. "I have a boyfriend." She waited for a response from Annie.

"Really? No way! That is major! That is so cool, I am so pleased for you! Who is it? Do I know them? Who asked who? How long?" This would be the hard bit.

Claire took a deep breath and said "It's John Bender." Silence.

"Um, really? Are you sure? You are not getting mixed up with him and John Dodds are you?"

"No. I am going out with John Bender. The guy who set the fire alarm off last week. The guy who smokes weed, who is rebellious but who loves me dearly and I love dearly." Annie smiled. "I am being serious. Say something please." That was the first time she had said she loved John.

"I love you no matter what. I support you. I want you to be safe and sensible. I shall tell no one, it's between you and me my friend. I am very happy for you. As long as you are happy. Plus, I am glad you told me." Annie hugged Claire.

"Phew. That's good then!" They both laughed and Claire explained exactly how it happened.

Claire still hadn't told Annie about her mum moving out.. and how she hadn't heard from her for days.


	6. Chapter 6: Friday Evening

_Friday evening_

Claire and John got out of Annie's car.

"Thanks Annie, I'll speak to you over the weekend?" John smiled at Annie.

"Yeah, have a good weekend. Nice to meet you John."

"It was a pleasure!" Claire gave John 'the look' unsure whether it was sarcasm or not. Annie drove off and Claire and John went inside. Claire hadn't told John what she knew about the note. She knew who it was. She knew one hundred per cent that John would be angry. He hated Fenton, for how he had treated Allison. He held grudges for a long time.

John made himself at home, he took his shoes off and took his and Claire's coat and hung them over the stair case. He walked into her kitchen and put the kettle on to make themselves hot drinks. "So, did you find anything out about that note John?" John looked around.

"No, not yet. But when I do…" his words trailed off. Claire put her arms round him.

"Don't do anything stupid when you do. You said yourself you want to try and contain the anger." They both smiled slightly, John unsure what to make of that comment. "Shall we watch some television? My dad is going to be home in half an hour before he leaves for the conference so if you don't want him to meet you then you may want to leave now…" John at Claire.

"It's fine. I'll go now, I'm going to go home and get myself sorted out. Plus, I could murder a joint. I haven't had one all day I've been so busy." He laughed, Claire not so much.

"Ok. Well, I'll see you tomorrow?" Claire grinned.

"Yes you shall my cherry. But not before I have the detention will my pal Dick. I'll be round at 7:30." John kissed Claire passionately and gathered his belongings. He got himself ready and went to walk home.

"Don't get into trouble at home, I want you in the best of moods tomorrow!" Claire shouted to John down the driveway.

"I'll do my best."

Claire's dad arrived home from work just ten minutes after John left.

"Hi Claire" her dad said to her as he closed the front door and took off his coat.

"Hi Dad." Claire walked from the living room into the kitchen. "Do you want a drink? The kettle has just boiled." Claire wanted to talk to her Dad about her mum. She wanted to know if he had heard from her.

"Yes please darling, I'm running a bit late so could you make me a sandwich too?" Claire nodded and began to help out her dad. He came to sit in the kitchen and got some paperwork together for his conference. "I feel like we haven't spoken for a while Claire. I've been so busy this week with things..."

"Yeah, I know the feeling." She sighed. "Dad, has the maid been in this week? We don't have much food in here?" Her dad looked up, confused. "What?"

"I thought the maid was meant to come today?" Her dad put his head in his hands. "Of course, she was hired by your mother. She must have cancelled the maid as she was the one who paid for it." Claire looked at her dad, annoyed that there was going to be no food in the house this weekend (especially as she had her gathering with friends.)

"Dad, I don't mind going food shopping. I am old enough to look after myself. If you could leave some money then consider it done." Her dad rummaged through his wallet and threw some money down. "Talking of mum… I haven't heard from her. Have you?"

"No, not since Tuesday when I..." his words trailed off. Claire looked at her dad completely serious and alert.

"Since when? I haven't spoken to her since she dropped me off at school on Monday when she left. Why did you speak to her on Tuesday?"

"It's when I told her I needed her current address so I could give her the divorce papers to sign. I want this to be as low key as possible; getting divorced is frowned upon in society. I don't want the word getting out." Claire looked down and added some mustard to the ham sandwich she had prepared for her dad. She cut it in half and placed it in a bag to keep it clean. "Has she not ringed here? I told her to ring you before I got home from work." Claire's dad had a sudden look of panic on his face.

"I'm sure it's fine, she is probably just stressed from moving…" Claire tried to sound as optimistic as possible, but it wasn't convincing.

John approached the Jackman Estate where he lived. He lit his second cigarette since he left Claire's house. As he walked through he stumbled across his friend Billy.

"Hey mate" Billy looked a bit panicked.

"Hey bud, what's up?" John offered Billy a cigarette and he gestured his as if to say 'no'.

"Are you heading home right now?"

"Yeah, I've just been to Claire's...I thought I might check in with my parents as they've been a bit quiet this week."

"That's very unlike them."

"Yeah, so what's up? Got something to say bud, spit it out."

"I wouldn't go home." John looked at Billy, confused by what he had just said. "Seriously. Just get out of here."

"Why? Is something going on?" John's voice was raised considerably. "Tell me before I force it out of you. What's going on?"

"I was walking round to Sarah's and she said she had heard loads of noise coming from your house. She lives like ten doors down so it must be loud. She said it didn't sound safe but she didn't want to call the police." John's eyes widened. "Sarah said she heard smashed glass and a woman screaming. She wanted to go in and see what was going on but was too scared too." John took a deep breath.

"If you don't hear from me for days, tell Claire I love her and call the police to my house." John was being completely serious.

"Do you want help? I can ring them now if you like. Don't do anything stupid John, I got your back." Billy almost choked on his words as John ran as fast as he could round to his house.

"If you ring them, I'll kill you _too." _John shouted as he disappeared out of sight.

Screaming. Shouting. Thumping. The sound of utter despair coming out of a woman's mouth. John's mum's mouth. She was screaming so loud. John hadn't even approached his house yet and it sound like he was bang in the centre of the argument. He ran as fast as he could.

"You stupid bitch, this is your entire fault." The deep voice of a man said.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." The woman tearfully replied. John ran up to the house and noticed smashed windows, it looked like the house had been burgled. He quietly walked in to his home, stepping lightly. He instantly noticed blood up the walls and the overwhelming smell of burning. He looked round the entrance way and saw glass everywhere and shoes. The screaming continued. He was scared. He had to be brave.

"Get off me, leave me alone. Please. Help me, someone help me." He hadn't heard her say 'help' yet. He knew the situation was changing. The mood was different. Screams. Intense screams. So loud and uneasy.

"You deserve this." John grabbed the knife from his boot which he had on him for protection. He walked into the living room where the disturbing noises were coming from. He saw the dark figure of a bulky man sitting on something that resembled his mother. His father was on his mother. A scene which he didn't want to see. His mother screaming for help. He was punching her. He was hitting her in her stomach. He was covering her mouth and nose and then enjoyed listening to her gasping for breath.

"Get off her now you bastard." John's words were stern. The dark figure of his dad turned and looked round to John who was shaking in the doorway. John could see the whites of his eyes. This could be the end of John Bender.


	7. Chapter 7: Family Affairs

_Would you know my name  
If I saw you in heaven  
Will it be the same  
If I saw you in heaven  
I must be strong, and carry on  
Cause I know I don't belong  
Here in heaven _

Everything was blurry. John was disorientated. More screaming. Still intense and extremely loud.

"Leave him alone," she screamed. John's mother was shouting. He could hear her snuffling. The tears must still be pouring. John had something or someone heavy on him.

Seconds earlier John was standing in the door way shaking. With his knife ready but hidden behind his back. He was armed and ready to do whatever it took to help his hurt and distraught mother. "What did you say boy? Are you telling me what to do?" The man, John's dad said, shortly before launching himself towards his son.

They both were on the floor in the doorway. John was flat on the floor with his bulky father on top of him. His knife was across the room, it slipped out of his hand as took on the considerable force of his father. His father lifted his head and was now orientated again. He looked at John with raging eyes and punched him round the face. John punched him back which lead into a full on brawl in their home. Somehow they stood up taking the fight all-round the house smashing in walls, knocking down photos, ripping curtains and grabbing furniture to hit each other with. John's father was taller and heavier than him. How would John ever come out of this alive, their relationship was at rock bottom and his dad was seriously pissed off. John didn't know why, but his dad was beating a woman. And that woman was his mum. Not cool. "DEAD. YOU ARE DEAD BOY." His father yelled at John, spitting in his face as he pronounced _boy_. John's mum was screaming and trying to pull his dad off of him, with no success.

Then it changed. There was a thud. John's mum was on the floor. John and his dad looked around to the woman who lay on the floor. She wasn't moving. She wasn't screaming. She wasn't doing _anything._ John looked at his dad who hadn't taken his eyes off his wife. "You did this, you pushed her. You killed her, it's your fault," John raged at his dad. His dad didn't answer. Then there was the sound of the ambulance outside their house. Perfectly timed. "Who called the ambulance?" John thought to himself. He walked past his father, who was still fixated on his wife. John headed towards to front door to let the paramedics in who were now knocking. His legs hurt, he ached everywhere. He felt something trickling down his face; he felt it just before he opened the door. _Blood._

The paramedics came storming in. Everything was blurry again. Slow motion. John felt faint. There were many of the people dressed in white outfits. He looked around. And fell to the floor.

_Tears on my pillow  
Pain in my heart  
Caused by you_

"Can you hear me? What's your name? I'm a paramedic named Paul, I'm here to help you." John was sitting upright against a wall. He wasn't sure how much time had passed since he was last alert and orientated. He made sense of his surroundings noticing the mess that had been caused.

"I hear ya-what happened?" The paramedic was dabbing a wound on John's head with an antiseptic wipe. "That hurts man," john said as he flinched. John was able to look out the front door and noticed 2 ambulances and a police car. "What's going on, someone tell me before I find out myself." John was angry. Very angry. He needed to know what was going on.

"I'm Paul, please tell me..." John looked round at the paramedic.

"I told you, I heard you. Tell me what the fuck is going on."

"What's your name?" Paul the paramedic asked, sounding relatively calm.

"John."

"John, you're injured. We're not sure what has happened. You have a deep wound on your head which needs stitches and you also have cuts over your face. You have a black eye and your nose has been bleeding." John looked around at the paramedic who was looking right into his eyes. "You have cracked a rib… but also there has been a fatality." John looked up to the man who was talking quietly. "It's your mother, I'm very sorry." John's eyes started watering.

"I'll kill him, I'll bloody fucking kill him." John went to get up and the paramedic pushed him back down, forcefully but for his own good.

"Please sit. I need to cover your wound. Then get you to hospital where we'll have more answers."

"No. I can't sit here. Let me go. Let me go and find the man who killed my mum. My mum is dead. Leave me the fuck alone. I respect more from someone like you. Get away from me." John was shouting at the poor paramedic who is simply just doing his job. He took the hint that John had a bad temper and let him do what he needed to do.

John got up and looked around. "Ouch." He said aloud. He walked into the living room in considerable pain. Tears were slowly falling down his face. He never cried. John Bender never cried, ever. He noted a white sheet on the living room floor.

"Excuse me lad, you need to get out of here." John looked at the man talking to him fiercely. "Please move. We need to remove this body. I'm sorry for your loss but I'm just doing my job." John didn't move. "Please. I need you leave now."

"I'm not moving." The man looked angry. He understood that John was upset but he was simply trying to do his job. He left the room, leaving John alone with his stone cold mother. Blood was all over the carpet. The knife he had was still in the same place that he dropped it in by the door. Photos were smashed on the floor. Furniture out of place.

John stared at the white sheet covering his mother.

"John. Please. Let's go outside, please." A familiar voice said. John didn't take his eyes off the body lying on the floor. A hand was placed on his shoulder. "Let's go outside."

John turned round. It was Brian.


	8. Chapter 8: Consequences

"Come on buddy, we need to go outside." John was still crying. "I know you don't want to, but please come outside with me. Listen to me, trust me. I'm your friend." John listened to Brian simply because he was unsure why he was there.

"What are you doing here? Why are you here?" John was looking down, mumbling his words.

"Don't worry about that now. I'm going in the ambulance with you. Someone needs to be there for you." John gave a slight smile. The best he could do in these circumstances. "I know you probably want Claire here, but maybe it's best we keep her out of it… we know she has a lot going on." John hadn't even thought about Claire. How disappointed would she be to learn that he and his dad had got into a massive argument which led to his mother dying. _His father._ John's face turned red. The tears stopped.

"Where is that son of a bitch Brian? Tell me now. Do you know where he is?" John was shaking Brian vigorously. Brian looked scared. He had only just realised how on edge John was. Maybe someone like Andy would be better than him; at least they could defend themselves if John threw any punches. John looked out the front door as they approached it. His father was still here.

"I hate you. I fucking hate you!" John launched himself towards the man, who didn't deserve to be called Dad.

"You did this not me, boy!" Punches were being thrown again. A bundle of paramedics and police men intercepted the punches and pulled them away from each other. Brian stepped back, he was unsure what John would say or do to him right now.

"John, it's me Paul. Let's go in the ambulance with your friend Brian. The police are taking this man away. I presume your father." John looked over to his father who was now in hand cuffs. He was bruised too. 2 Black eyes. He was bleeding. He was sweating. He was red in the face. He had plasters on his arm. The police pushed his father into the police car. John stared at his father. And shouted "Fuck You" as he was being driven away.

At the hospital John was updated on the current situation. It was likely that his father was going to be charged with murder. His mother had been pushed down and hit her head on the edge of the fireplace, causing a brain haemorrhage which was immediately fatal. John was clear of any charges so far, but he was being given a curfew by the police because the paramedics deemed him to be unstable.

"John, do you have somewhere to stay tonight?" John looked at Brian. "You can't stay at home. It's a crime scene." The police man was looking intensely at John.

"He can stay at my house. It's fine. Can we get some clothes or not?" John looked relieved and smiled slightly at Brian. He would definitely prefer to stay with Claire, but she had her own problems. He was too stressed to explain to her what was going on. Not tonight. He didn't have the energy.

"We'll be in contact Mr Bender. You should be able to return home tomorrow evening. We'll visit you tomorrow at Mr Johnson's house to update you further." The police officer walked away. John and Brian were sat in the hospital with John's head stitched up.

"What do I do? What do I fucking do? My life is utter shit." John looked over to Brian, "You still got that gun?" Brian laughed. John was serious.

"Let's go home. You may want to calm down a bit before we go in. My little sister will be in bed and my parents will not be happy if you wake her up." John sarcastically put his thumbs up.

Meanwhile, Claire had said goodbye to her father shortly after 5pm. She was home alone and had been for a few hours. She passed the time by doing some homework and putting some washing on.

She walked over to the fridge after feeling a little hungry. There was little food in the house so she rang her friend Annie.

"Hey Annie."

"Hi Claire, what's up?"

"My dad's not here. It's took dark to walk to the shop and I'm starving…"

"You want me to bring some food round? We ordered a pizza and have a few left over slices? You want those too?"

"Yes please!" Claire was delighted. Fatty food. Just what she needed, she was hormonal and definitely needed comfort food. "Do you want stay over? I have some stuff I want to talk to you about."

"Yeah, that would be great. I'll be round shortly."

Claire and Annie munched on some cold pizza Annie had bought round. A cheese and tomato pizza. Nice. They put some television on, there wasn't much on but it would suffice.

"So what did you want to talk to me about? Is it prom date related?" Claire and Annie giggled.

"No, no, no. It's just my mum."

"Oh yeah, I haven't see her lately. Is she late home from work today?"

"No. That's the thing. She moved out on Monday. My parents have separated." Annie looked sad and put her hand on Claire's arm. "It really sucks and I really miss her."

"Why don't you give her a ring? Has she got a phone where she is staying?"

"That's it. She hasn't rung since dad asked her where he could send the divorce papers to. I have no idea what the number is. No one has heard from her. I tried to convince my dad earlier that she was just stressed so hadn't been in contact but I'm really worried." Claire burst into tears. Annie jumped up off the sofa and hugged Claire tightly.

"Everything will be fine, trust me." Annie grabbed some chocolate's from the table. "Eat these, they'll make you feel better." Claire wiped away the tears and laughed with Annie.

"So this is my mum Carol and my dad Mick." Brian's parents smiled.

"We're very sorry for your loss. We've set up a bed for you in the spare room. There's a towel for you too." Brian's mother smiled as she spoken to John in a reassuring voice. Brian had always made out his parents were horrible, but maybe because he had a guest round she seemed nice.

"Thanks. I think I'm going to go to bed. It's been a long day." Brian patted him on the shoulder. Brian led John upstairs to his temporary bedroom.

"If you need anything John, I'm in the next room. The bathroom is opposite. Good night." Brian yawned as he shut John's door.

John looked around. The bedroom was pale. It was relatively depressing. Nothing like his one at home, but the furniture looked better. John took off his coat and dumped it on the floor. It really had been a long day. He didn't wake up at his house and he was going to bed at someone else's house. Shows how mucked up his life was. He took his shirt and trousers off and crawled into bed. Fresh sheets, something John was unfamiliar with. He got comfortable and closed his eyes. A tear fell down his face. He drifted off to sleep straight away.


	9. Chapter 9: Issues

_[This chapter is slightly boring, so do forgive me. This is just leading to the gathering which Claire is hosting and that'll be much more interesting!]_

_Saturday_

John woke up in the early hours of Saturday. He'd had a bad dream. "That felt so real." He sat up and turned the lamp on which was sitting on the bedside table. He was sweating and had been crying. He placed his hands over his face and sighed. "What am I going to do?" he said aloud, secretly hoping his conscience would offer him suggestions. John Bender never cried. He had this stereotype to fit. People like him _never_ cried. He turned the lamp off and got comfortable once again. He lay on is back, looking at the ceiling in the bedroom. He felt empty. He needed to talk about what happened but it was so fresh that he couldn't. He couldn't sleep because the events of yesterday were going round and round in his head like a stuck record. "If only I hadn't gone to Claire's she may still be alive." John blamed himself. "I should have listened to Claire and turned _him_ in earlier." John was vulnerable. He had lost both parents in one day, good reasons and bad reasons. He couldn't bear to think what would happen now. He shut his eyes and hoped that when he woke up again all his issues would be resolved.

Claire and Annie woke up at about 10am. They'd had a great evening chatting talking about girly things including prom. They established that Claire really needed to catch up with her other friends but that meant socialising with people she rather wouldn't.

"I've had a great evening Claire," Annie said as they both headed to the kitchen in their pyjamas.

"Me too! Thank you for coming!" Annie and Claire both smiled and helped each other getting the breakfast stuff ready.

After breakfast, Claire got showered whilst Annie tidied up downstairs.

"So, shall we head out to the supermarket to get some food? You said you needed to go out and I have a car so we may as well?"

"Thank you, I really appreciate it. You can help me pick out bits for tonight – I have The Breakfast Club coming round." Annie knew all about The Breakfast Club, Claire had filled her in. Annie loved that Claire had ventured further than the 'princesses' that they normally hung round with. It was acceptable for Claire to be friends with Andy, because he was a jock. But a rebel, bad idea. A basket case, not so much. And a nerd? People would just laugh. Annie didn't judge Claire based on who she was friends with, but they both agreed to not tell anyone about it yet because certain friends, *cough* Savannah *cough* wouldn't approve. Annie and Claire ventured out in the cold, rainy weather to get some groceries totally unaware of what had happened to John the previous night.

"John, buddy are you awake? It's 11:30," Brian quietly asked John. John came around and looked up at Brian. Brian was wearing pyjamas, but they really were not stereotypical nerdy ones. Brian had grey sweatpants on and a black t-shirt. John was almost surprised about this until he noticed that Brian was wearing monster slippers. "I didn't mean to wake you."

"Yes you did," John said with a croaky voice. Brian took a step-back, unsure of how John would react next. "Did that really happen Bri? As in yesterday?" Brian gulped.

"Yes John, it did happen. I'm very sorry too." John sat up and rubbed his eyes with his hands. "I was unsure whether to wake you or not because…you see… you have a detention with Mr Vernon today." Brian looked at John waiting for a response.

"I don't care. I'm not spending any time with that trouser snake any time." Brian laughed a little. "I'm really hungry." John said, intending to sound rude.

"We have food! If you get dressed we can get something. I'll meet you downstairs in a bit." Brian left to let John get dressed. John debated whether to go back to sleep but decided not to. He collected his shirt and trousers from the floor. There was a knock on the door. "Yes?" John snappily said.

"Hi John, it's Mrs Johnson. I have some clean clothes for you. I went by the store and found you some clean bits. You shouldn't wear the same stuff 2 days in a row." Well that's funny, John normally wears the same clothes about 4 times in a row. I mean, he changes his underwear, but still. John opened the door in his pants.

"Thanks Mrs Johnson, I appreciate it." He smiled and shut the door.

"This looks nice Claire, I can see you wearing it!"

"I love the colour, I think it goes well with my hair?" Claire and Annie laughed. They were having a bit of fun in the clothes section, picking out clothes which they hated and taking the piss out of them. At least they were having fun, unlike John.

"Annie, I feel a bit weird today."

"Why?"

"This is the first time I've not seen John before 9am. It's about 11:45 now. I always see him at school, so it just feels weird not seeing him until later."

"I'm sure he's fine, he's not going to be dead. You can't baby him Claire, he is a big boy." Annie walked past some condoms she saw them and picked them up. "Talking of 'big boy'!..." She giggled as she held them up to Claire. Claire giggled slightly and then got embarrassed.

"Put them back, please." Annie put them back where she found them.

"Not that far yet?" Claire shook her head. Annie knew to shut up.

John and Brian were home alone. Brian's parents and sister were out doing some food shopping. "Big Bri, I really appreciate everything you've done for me. I just need to be alone right now."

"You can't leave. I've just put the bread in for toast. I don't even like toast."

"No, I'm just saying after I've sorted myself out here I need to be alone."

"Are you still coming to Claire's later?"

"Probably not." Brian looked disappointed. "I don't want you saying anything."

"If you don't turn up I will be forced to say something." John looked at Brian, quite angrily. "You need to speak to Claire, if not Claire, Allison. She listens well. What about Sarah, Denzel or Billy? They're your friends. We're all here for you."

"No, they remind me too much of my past life. Everything I did with them was to escape my parents. I need to move on." John and Brian sat in silence. Brian didn't think he and John would consider each other friends, but when John said he appreciated what Brian was doing for him, he really felt that John meant it. After they had eaten, John said to goodbye to Brian and grabbed his coat. He took his matches and cigarettes out and lit one shortly before walking out of Brian's house. Brian didn't know where he was going. Neither did John. He just had to get out of there.


	10. Chapter 10: Bad News

_Saturday Evening_

Claire was wearing some of her nicest clothes for this gathering. Her hair and makeup was done immaculately and she was waiting for everyone to arrive. Allison was first, she was wearing pretty much what she normally wore just with different shoes. Andy arrived second, wearing his favourite baseball jacket and shoes.

"Hi Allison, hi Claire." Andy said as he walked into Claire's house. He looked at Allison. They smiled at each other and then gave each other a hug. They both looked relieved that they were finally in each other's presence again.

"Where's Brian, I thought he organised this? He could at least turn up on time!" Allison jokingly said.

"It doesn't matter. Do you want to follow me through to the kitchen? I prepared a few nibbles." Allison and Andy were wrapped around each other. Andy looked delighted when Claire said 'nibbles'.

About half an hour had passed since Allison and Andy turned up. It was just gone 8:00. Claire wasn't panicking about anything. She knew John would turn up, she trusted him to. But she was finding it slightly odd that Brian wasn't here yet. Claire kept the conversation going with Allison and Andy by asking them about prom and bitching about Savannah. The doorbell rang. Claire got up and went to the door. She opened it to a sad looking Brian. Claire invited him in.

"What's wrong Brian?" She put her hand on his shoulder, as a way to comfort him. Allison and Andy got up from the sofa and came to see what was going on.

"Is everything ok Bri?" Andy asked. Brian looked at Claire.

"Something is wrong with John." Claire looked shocked. "Like seriously wrong." Claire was still puzzled. How did Brian know something was wrong with John?

"Why? How do you know? Shouldn't I be the one to know something is wrong?"

"Just calm down Claire and let Brian explain," advised Allison. Allison suggested they go and sit down in the living room whilst Brian explained so they all followed her in.

"Some crazy shit when down last night at John's." Andy, Allison and Claire all looked at Brian as if to say 'go on'. "I heard shouting, really loud shouting from my bedroom window. I couldn't see anything but it was really loud and I could tell where it was coming from. I began to hear sirens and so I told my mum I was going to see if everything was ok. When I followed the sirens, it led to the Jackman Estate. I presumed that's where John lived." Everyone was intensely listening to Brian, who was recalling the events of last night. "When I got to my destination, I guessed it was John's house. There were 2 ambulances and a police car."

"Oh no, please say everything is alright, please." Claire tearfully responded. Allison and Andy remained silent.

"I asked a paramedic if everything was ok, and he said someone had died and I needed to stay behind the barrier." Claire burst into tears. "He told me, when I asked, that it was a woman with the last name of Bender and that her husband and son were to do with it. So I asked where the boy was, and if he was called John, because I was friends with a John Bender." Brian swallowed. "I went in and found John standing in the living room staring at a body covered with a white sheet. The house looked like a bomb had hit it. Glass was everywhere. Blood up the walls. Furniture was ripped etc. It was awful. There was a faint smell of burning too. John was just staring at the body. I didn't know what to do so I placed a hand on his shoulder and managed to get him out of the house. He was really angry, like really angry. I thought he might hit me or something. At one point I thought it was a big mistake going."

"What happened next? Was John ok? Where is he?" Allison asked, sounding very concerned. Allison looked over to Claire who was in despair. Make up ruined and red faced. She reassuringly put her hand in Claire's hand and gave it a rub.

"Go on, Brian," Andy said.

"As we were getting outside, John saw his dad. It was his dad who killed his mum. John went nuts. He literally attacked his dad. John was already injured from earlier. They must have been at each other's throats all evening. They both looked like shit. Black eyes, broken ribs, nose's bleeding. John had a deep wound and a broken rib." Brian took a deep breath. "I stepped away while the police and paramedics intervened. I didn't want to get hit or anything, John was only seeing red."

"What happened to John?" Claire demanded.

"I had to take him to hospital. We were told that his dad was charged with the murder. I offered to let him stay round my house for the night, so he did. Then this morning he seemed different. He wouldn't talk about it. He just said that he had to be alone. He said he probably wouldn't come this evening. I don't know where he went. I'm worried about him. I really am."

Silence. There was complete silence. No one knew what to say. Claire wasn't sure what John was capable of. He was mad. She was planning on telling him tonight who had sent her that note but it was bloody good that she hadn't. He probably would have exploded with anger.

"What do we do?" Brian looked round at Claire, Allison and Andy. Nothing, they didn't know what to do. "We need to find him. He could be drinking himself to death! He could be doing things that he normally wouldn't. He needs help! The police need to talk to him now. They turned up earlier and I told them he wasn't here, but it's urgent. They need to talk to him now. We need to find him."

"Just calm down Brian, we know that he needs to be found." Andy paused, "we don't know whether he's done this or not before. He could do it a lot, and then turn up a few hours later."

"Somehow Andy, I don't think that's the case. I think he's really gone." Allison rested her head on Andy, sad by what she had just said. She knew it was true, and inside, so did Andy. Brian looked over to Claire who was just staring at the floor. Brian walked over to the and put his arm round her. "Brian, leave her alone. I don't think she is in the mood." Brian looked over to Allison with a face as if to say 'I don't care, she is my friend.' Allison looked away and hugged Andy.

"We need to find him. Brian's right, John needs help. He is probably so angry and thinks that he needs to be alone, but he doesn't. He needs support." Claire stood up, readjusted her skirt, wiped away some tears and repositioned her hair. "I'm going to find him." Andy, Allison and Brian all looked shocked, but almost happy that it had been suggested. "I'm going to ring Annie. She can give us a ride."

"I think we should check by the local stores, he could be wasted on alcohol hanging around shops." Andy suggested, Allison smiled at Andy. "Brian, do you know where his friends live? Denzel, Sarah and Billy?"

"I do, but I don't feel very comfortable going alone. I don't know them..." Brian looked over to Allison as his words trailed off.

"I'll go with Brian, they know me better. Both of us can go, it's safer. Andy you go alone. You can defend yourself in case you find him and he attacks." Allison looked over to Claire. "Where do you think he'll be?"

"He wants to be alone, somewhere quiet?" suggested Brian.

"What about his house?" Added Andy.

"He can't go back there yet." Replied Brian.

"That's too obvious. Plus there'll be too many memories. It's worth checking, but I don't think he'll be there," emitted Claire.

"He could be at school?" Andy mumbled. "School. He must be at school. No one will be there now? He'll be alone. No one will think he is there because it's closed. He must be at school," Andy added, a bit louder. Everyone looked at each other. The room fell silent for a few seconds while everyone thought about what Andy had just said.

"I think you're right Andy. As much as he hates school, no one will think he's there because it's closed." Everyone looked over to Claire.

"Claire, do you want to go alone?" Claire's face was straight.

"I think I should. I'll ask Annie to give me a lift; it's too far to walk. If he's not there then I can go somewhere else." That was the plan. They would each look somewhere. "If you can't find him, shall we meet back at my house?" Everyone nodded. They all got up and collected their coats and put shoes on. Claire rang Annie and briefly explained. Annie was on her way. They were going to find John.

John had walked through the school playing field and headed round the back entrance. He found some metal on the floor and was able to open the door which leads directly to the basement. He opened the door, took a look around to check no one was looking. Threw his cigarette on the ground, one of many he had had in the past couple of hours, and stamped it out. He walked down the stairs and felt for the light switch. The lights came on and he followed the stairs down. He walked through hallways and found himself in front of more stairs. He walked up them and noticed he was in a familiar place. Just outside the library, next door to Dick Vernon's office. He walked into the library and took a look around. "Suppose it's only fair I stay here seeing as I missed the detention," John sarcastically said aloud to himself. He walked towards the table that he sat by last week. He pulled out a chair and positioned another one next to him. He sat down, took his coat off, placed his legs on the other chair and then placed his coat back over him. He shut his eyes. He had too many things going round in his brain. He was thinking about his mum, his dad, Claire and his future, just to name a through. He lay with his eyes closed for a long while, but not actually drifting off to sleep. He was so tired. He just couldn't sleep. He opened his eyes and looked at the clock. It was 5:30pm. He closed his eyes again and tried to think of boring things. He quickly drifted off to sleep…

Claire got out of the car when Annie had arrived at Shermer High School. "Good luck, I really hope you find him," Annie said to Claire, trying to sound optimistic. Claire looked at the main entrance. Too obvious, the alarm would go off. She looked over to Annie who was waiting in the car. Annie pointed to her left. The back entrance, through the sports field. Claire was wearing her favourite brown boots. Damn. John was worth it though. She walked round to the sports field and kept to the edge where it was least muddy. She came across the back door. It was open. She had no idea how long for, but it was about 9:30pm now and it was cold. She went inside following the steps and different hallways. She arrived somewhere familiar. She was by Dick Vernon's office. "This looks familiar." She looked around, "The library. Maybe he's in there." The library was dark. No lights were on. Claire opened the door and felt for the light switch. She turned it on and looked across the room. She saw a figure spread over two chairs. And she got closer she realised it was John. She'd found him.


	11. Chapter 11: Reunion

_Reunion_

_And I don't want the world to see me  
'Cause I don't think that they'd understand  
When everything's made to be broken  
I just want you to know who I am_

Claire had never felt this way about someone. She cared for John so deeply. They had been together for 5 days but it felt special. It felt very _right_. Claire was still standing in the doorway. She could tell from a distance that John was not ok. She saw all the cigarette buds on the table. He had smoked an awful lot. She approached him, being very quiet. "John, John. Wake up," Claire quietly said to him. He didn't stir. She repeated herself, "John, wake up." He didn't wake up. She placed her hand on his shoulder and tapped him. John immediately woke up, threw Claire's arm off him and stood up.

"What the hell are you doing? Don't touch me." Claire was shocked. He had never spoken to her with such a tone. Did he know it was her? She almost understood why he spoke to her like that. The way he reacted when Dick Vernon touched him last week and the events that had happened yesterday… it was understandable. Claire took a step back. She felt a few tears fall down her face. John was standing up looking at Claire. He had no expression. Claire noticed that John's face was red. Had he been crying? There was silence in the room. Claire took a step toward John and he took a step back. What was he doing?

"John, it's me." She was still looking at John. "Are you ok? Talk to me." John shut his eyes and rubbed them with his hands.

"Just go away Claire, leave me alone," John responded. Claire stepped closer to him. "Claire go away. Stay out of my shitty life. I don't want anything to do with you and your perfect life. Just leave me alone," he bellowed. Claire was taken aback. She knew he meant it.

"No I won't go, John. I'm here because I love you. I want to see if my boyfriend is ok. I am not leaving until you talk to me." John looked down. Claire was standing her ground. She knew he couldn't be left. He was _too_ unstable. She was scared, but needed to be brave. "Talk to me John. Or do I have to tell you what I know? Do I have to go over everything that has happened?" Claire knew how bad that was to do. He could react in any way. She shouldn't torture him. He had been through so much… it was wrong of her to threaten to remind him of what happened yesterday. "Please John. Talk to me." She screamed at him. John looked up. Tears were falling down his face. Claire realised how fragile he was. "I'm so sorry John…" her words trailed off. Her tears kept pouring. Claire stepped towards him again. They were close now; Claire could feel John's breath on her face. She could hear how distressed he was. She could smell the cigarettes. Claire put her arms round John's back. He was taller than she was, he was more muscular. She squeezed him tight to reassure him. She was there for him. After a couple of seconds, John responded. He put his arms round Claire and buried his head in her neck. They hugged for minutes, no words were exchanged. Claire heard John exhale deeply. He removed his arms from round her and moved his head away. He wiped away the tears. Claire looked up. He wiped away her tears. "I'm so sorry…"

"Me too. It should never have come to this. I should have dealt with _him _sooner. It's my fault." Claire shook her head. She disagreed. She needed John to know that it wasn't his fault. They were looking each other in the eyes now. They both leant in for a kiss. Claire wrapped her arms round John's neck; he placed his hand on her hips. They kissed. The kiss was passionate, it was needed and well deserved. John looked at Claire. "You're beautiful." Claire went red. John had never spoken to her so nicely; his compliment meant a lot in his current situation. "I love you." Claire was shocked. It was the first time he had said that. She'd told Annie that she loved him, but hadn't actually _told_ him how she felt.

"I love you too." They embraced each other and then kissed again.

Meanwhile, Andy, Allison and Brian had been out searching for John and had no luck. They all eventually met at the Jackman Estate.

"Any luck, Andy?" asked Allison. Andy shook his head. "I think he could be at school, like you said. It might be worth seeing if Annie's car is still waiting out front? If not, we can just walk back to Claire's. She gave me a key in case we got there before her." Andy, Allison and Brian agreed to walk to school. It was about 10pm on a Saturday. School was not in session, but they needed to find their friend.

"I really like you Allison." Andy shyly said. Allison looked up. She smiled.

"I like you too."

"Be my girlfriend. I really would love to be your boyfriend." Allison smiled even more. She leaped towards Andy and planted a kiss on him. That meant yes.

"You're so cute," Brian remarked. Andy and Allison looked at him, both grinning. Brian never spoke like that. He was really happy that his new friends were happy; that meant a lot to him.

"We know!" Allison exclaimed. They arrived at school after a 15 minute walk. It was cold and dark. It was raining lightly.

"Is that Annie's car?" Everyone looked to where Andy was no pointing. "I think it is." They all walked towards the car waiting outside school. Andy tapped on the window. "Annie?" The girl looked up and rolled down the window. "How long have you been here?"

"Probably over half an hour. I think John's inside." Annie looked around awkwardly, not sure what to do next. "Maybe you should go in and see if Claire's ok?"

"I think that's a good idea; John was not in a good place when I last saw him. You never know what he might do to Claire…" Brian acknowledged."

"He won't hurt her Brian," Allison bluntly said. "But you're right, we should go in and see how he is." Andy, Allison and Claire offered Annie to come with them, but she stayed in the car reading one of her magazines. The rain was getting heavier.

"It's awfully muddy along here," Brian shouted. He was in front of Andy and Allison and the rain was so heavy he was unsure whether they had heard him.

"The door is right there. Go in and head straight down. Turn left then left again. Go up the stairs and you'll be by Vernon's office," responded Andy. Brian followed Andy's directions and arrived at his destination.

"I don't want to talk about it Claire. It's too raw. I'm worried I might say…or do something I'll regret."

"Please John. You need to tell me how you feel. I want you to know that I'm here for you." Claire and John were sitting on the library floor against some bookshelves. John's legs were open, Claire sitting the gap with her legs over John's and behind his back. John was playing with Claire's hair. "John. What are you going to do about a funeral? Have you thought about it?"

"No. I don't want to discuss it. She doesn't deserve a funeral."

"You don't mean that."

"I do. Would you give a fucking funeral which costs a hell of a lot of money, which in case you forgot, I don't have money, to someone who abused you? Followed every command you father said. Hitting, smacking, beating?" Claire was silent. "I didn't think so. I know I tried to save her because of what _he_ was doing to her, but I can't stand a man beating a woman. That's wrong, simply fucking wrong." John was angry again. "Besides, I have no one who would want to come to a funeral held by me. She'll have more people attending than I would. Dick would be dancing round my grave."

"I will." A voice said. John and Claire looked round. Allison, Andy and Brian were standing in a line, facing Claire and John.

The breakfast club reunited. 1 week after they met. They had reunited.


End file.
